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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (May 16, 2022) from the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, featuring all the latest build for the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view (PPV) coming up on June 5, 2022.
Advertised for tonight: Bobby Lashley goes to war with Omos inside a steel cage. Lashley issued the challenge after MVP cheated to help the Nigerian Giant beat him at WrestleMania Backlash.
Elsewhere on the card, Cody Rhodes appears to be headed towards a Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch and Asuka are both chasing after Bianca Belair’s Raw women’s championship, The Judgment Day is gaining momentum with Rhea Ripley as their newest member, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here.
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR MAY 16
All’s well at the midnight hour, you’re ready to fly. Don’t think about the darkness or the rumbling in the sky. Somewhere on the morning road just waiting for you, some things that just could never be are calling up a spell so you can see, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a recap of the Bobby Lashley/Omos feud to build up tonight’s steel cage match.
Montel Vontavious Porter makes his entrance with Omos and gets on the mic inside of the steel cage.
MVP talks up the spectacle of the cage and runs Bobby Lashley down for stealing spotlight that should have been his to share, before putting Omos over as the future of WWE.
Cedric Alexander attacks Lashley during his entrance and waylays him, leading Omos to come down and join the fray! Referees and road agents swarm to try and pull them apart and eventually Bob breaks away and goes to the cage to wait for Omos as we go to break.
Bobby Lashley vs. Omos (Steel Cage Match)
Omos in control early, choking Lashley over the ropes, Bob fires back with punches, a sleeper hold attempt, the big man shrugs him off. MVP with cheap shots, jabbing his cane into Lashley’s neck and head, Omos scoops him up and hits Snake Eyes! Following it with a big boot, no dice!
Bob powers up, lands a spear... SO CLOSE! Overhead elbows to try and soften him up for the Hurt Lock, northern lariat follows, one arm, the second adn the Hurt Lock is in but Omos backs up! Lashley lets go and passes him into the corner, boot up, climbing, the Nigerian Giant follows but Bob steps on his head until he falls down!
Climbing, Cedric Alexander runs in and climbs atop the cage... BOBBY LASHLEY SLAMS ALEXANDER OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE! HUGE DIVING CROSSOBDY BUT OMOS CATCHES HIM! Fireman’s carry and he cold chucks Bob into the steel! Omos picks him up again... AND THROWS HIM THROUGH THE CAGE WALL!
Lashley gets to his feet and steps to the ground...
Bobby Lashley wins by escaping the steel cage.
A recap of Mustafa Ali getting fast-counted by the Miz last week follows.
Austin Theory makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Austin Theory gets on the mic and says he can’t in good faith have this match without a referee he can trust, one hundred percent... the Miz!
But even after the Miz comes down to be guest referee, Austin Theory says he needs one more reassurance, and that’s that Ali isn’t actually wrestling him, he’s wrestling Veer Mahaan.
Mustafa Ali vs. Veer Mahaan
Ali trying his best but Mahaan is a dynamo and runs him over. slips out of a slam, superkick, another one, Mustafa off the ropes but Theory trips him up in full view of the Miz! The A-Lister pretends he didn’t see anything, Ali low-bridges him, dropkick keeps Veer from returning, off the ropes again but Miz is in the way making his count!
Mustafa and Miz bicker, the referee shoves him and Mahaan returns to hammer Ali with a lariat! Seated senton, cervical clutch is applied...
Veer Mahaan wins by submission with the cervical clutch.
Post-match, Theory asks Mahaan to reapply the cervical clutch so he can take a selfie, and Miz joins the fun too. Veer heads outside to dismantle the announce desk but the Mysterios return and go to work on the lion, sending him packing!
We see Becky Lynch literally run into Adam Pearce to plead her case about something or other as we go to break.
Back from commercial, we go back to Becky Lynch arguing with Adam Pearce.
She claims that she saw Sasha Banks and Naomi leaving the building so tonight’s six-pack challenge shouldn’t happen and she should just be named #1 contender. Pearce says he knows what happened and it’s official, it’ll be Lynch vs. Asuka, winner is #1 contender!
Matt Riddle makes his entrance and we go to break.
Jimmy Uso vs. Matt Riddle
Uso in hot, putting boots to Riddle, whip across, up and over, big kick from Matt sets up the Karelin lift, cover for one. Choking Riddle in the ropes, Jey comes over with a big slap, Matt comes over for a Penalty Kick from the apron, Jimmy with a dive, they put him into the steps and stand tall as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Uso with a kick to send Riddle spiraling into the corner, running hip attack, rear chinlock applied, Pele kick counters! Corner forearm, Jimmy blocks the exploder on the first try but the second sends him flying! Running senton, knees up and both guys are out!
Trading forearms from their knees to their feet, whip reversed, pop-up Samoan drop... NOPE! Up top, jockeying for position, headbutt knocks Riddle down, Uso off the top... KNEES UP! Matt pulling himself up, back elbow on the charge, Jey trips him up, referee Rod Zapata catches him interfering and throws him out!
Riddle thinks fast...
Matt Riddle wins by pinfall with a small package.
We get a recap of Rhea Ripley joining Judgment Day.
Liv Morgan is interviewed backstage.
She says Ripley will never get away with this and she’s never giving up on a fight.
Los Lotharios roll up to try and comfort her, claiming that their kiss cam always cheers a beautiful woman up, and AJ Styles and Finn Balor roll up to shoo them off.
AJ and Finn pitch Liv on teaming up to fight Judgment Day.
We see Judgment Day hanging out around Edge’s throne and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get an Instagram hype reel.
The Judgment Day cut a promo.
Rhea Ripley says nothing is holding her back and now is time to see what she’s like unleashed. Edge says they’re at the forefront of something that most of us don’t understand, but some of us are as tired as they are and we should join the movement.
He pitches AJ on joining but says he knows he won’t, and he gets it because he used to be that guy.
Liv Morgan, AJ Styles, and Finn Balor make their entrance to send us to break.
AJ Styles & Finn Balor vs. Los Lotharios (Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo)
Balor and Carrillo to start, Styles comes in and gets overwhelmed and the heels start working him over. Babyfaces power up and send them to the floor, stereo planchas, they stand tall and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Lotharios in control and working AJ Styles over, hot tag to Balor! Running hot, Garza reverses an inverted headlock into a small package, big front kick, drawing Finn up for the Wing Clipper but he reverses and hits Sling Blade! Charging in, superkick cuts him level, tag to Carrillo!
Styles takes Angel out with a Phenomenal Forearm...
AJ Styles & Finn Balor win by pinfall with Coup de Grace from Balor on Humberto Carrillo.
Post-match, Balor and Styles Too Sweet and they let Liv join in, too.
Kevin Owens is backstage with Alpha Academy eagerly awaiting the DNA test on Ezekiel. Owens pulls the results out of Chad Gable’s hand and sees that the report suggests that the sample was contaminated by barbecue sauce. KO loses his mind and asks Chad if he’s gonna let Elias make him look like an idiot.
Gable says he’ll expose Ezekiel as a fraud next week, but tonight he’s gonna beat it out of him.
Alexa Bliss makes her entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial my lovely wife Josie blesses y’all with entrance commentary—
Sonya D comes out in a Matrix outfit made out of Hefty bag. She takes off the big Neo cloak and underneath is leather dominatrix gear. I am gay.
Alexa Bliss is an absolute SNACK tonite.
Alexa Bliss vs. Sonya Deville
Bliss in hard early, Insault to Injury misses, running knee from Deville for two. Off the ropes, shove down, Alexa kicks out. Back and forth, running knee from Sonya... NOPE! Putting Bliss into the corner, smashing her face into the next one, Deville unties a turnbuckle, big twisting spinebuster but referee Danilo Anfibio is busy with the turnbuckle and no pin!
Alexa thinks fast...
Alexa Bliss wins by pinfall with a DDT.
Post-match, Sonya jaws at Anfibio and slaps him across the face!
Cody Rhodes makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Cody Rhodes gets on the mic.
He says he’s been told that Seth Rollins isn’t here, and although he’s surrounded by lovers here in Virginia, he hopes that Seth is listening. Last week he tried to move forward and extinguish this chapter in their career but Rollins dumped gasoline on that fire and said the most peculiar thing.
He said that Cody would never take anything away ever again, and what is it that he took away? Two victories, a winner’s purse, a little bit of pride? If anything the biggest threat to Seth Rollins is Seth Rollins, trapped in a purgatory of his own design.
He recalls the beginning of Seth’s career, his meteoric rise to the WWE Championship, proving that there was a glass ceiling in the first place even as he shattered it. Cody’s story is a little different— he didn’t win, he lost and scratched and clawed and painted his face with a smile, dead inside and looking at the lights most nights, but the thing is he endured.
You learn so much from loss, how to adapt and reinvent yourself, and the number one thing he learned is that he’s never gonna be the American Dream, so why not embrace the Nightmare? You could say that he lost his way to the top, but truly it comes down to this: Does Rollins’ embarrassment at losing two matches outweigh Rhodes’ quest for vindication?
You don’t take a second chance for granted, and if Seth is gonna try denying him his, he’ll have to kill him. And he’ll give him the chance, he wants to run it back and lock all that angst in here and play for keeps, Rollins vs. Rhodes III, inside of Hell in a Cell!
Seth appears laughing hysterically on the tron in a lemon yellow blazer and a mesh shirt. He mocks Cody for begging and pleading for one more go around, and says that’s the biggest mistake he’ll ever make, because everybody that steps in the cell with him is changed forever.
He’s going to exploit every one of Cody’s insecurities and expose him for the fraud that he is, and he accepts the challenge.
Backstage, Asuka is interviewed about her match tonight.
She mocks Becky’s crying and calls her a big baby, but tonight she’s gonna give her a reason to cry, because she’s ready for the Raw Women’s Championship and Lynch isn’t ready for her.
Alpha Academy and Kevin Owens make their entrance to send us to break.
Chad Gable vs. Ezekiel
Kevin Owens is on commentary for this one, apoplectic about Ezekiel as usual.
Collar and elbow, Ezekiel backs Gable into the corner and breaks clean at referee Eddie Orengo’s insistance. Whip across, duck a lariat, shoulder block, Chad with an armbar takedown, arm wringer, Zeke with a headlock takeover! Gable with a back suplex to break, whip across, big knee lift to the midsection, only two!
Mounted punches, Ezekiel gets up and gets the Gory Special! Flexing, wrenching it in, sunset flip, looking for a leglock of some kind but Chad forces him out of the ropes! To the floor, smashing Gable’s face into the apron, hanging his neck over the top rope but Otis Dozovic blasts him while Orengo isn’t looking and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Gable with a bridging northern lights suplex, into a top wristlock on the kickout. Up top, nobody home on the moonsault, Ezekiel running hot with lariats! Front kick into a spinebuster, only two! Chad off the top, he dives right into a knee... SO CLOSE!
Gable shoves him down, moonsault connects this time... EZEKIEL KICKS OUT! Chops and forearms, backing Gable into the corner, whip reversed, up and over mule kick, Zeke is fired up and shaking the ropes, Stinger Splash, a knee takes care of Otis, Chad goes for a pin, nope, reversed...
Ezekiel wins by pinfall with a lateral press.
Post-match, Zeke is just a little faster than the heels and runs away.
Backstage, R-Truth finally manages to serve Akira Tozawa his divorce papers.
Dana Brooke rolls up to thank him for serving Reggie last week, and Truth comes on to the title belt, demanding she give it back to him, but she shoves him into a trash can! She runs off and runs into Carmella, apologizing for running into her, and Mella says she’s a sorry excuse for a competitor and a wife.
Unlike her, her husband can’t get enough of her, and she’s been a real champion, but Brooke says the last time she was relevant was when the chinless guy still worked here. They bicker but get cut off by R-Truth yelling and giving chase. He begs Carmella for help, and she says she’ll help, but when the time is right she gets Dana.
Lacey Evans makes her entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Lacey Evans gets on the mic.
She does a tight five on supporting the troops.
Matt Riddle appears in a smoky room to say that RK-BRO are gonna unify the tag titles.
The Usos get an equal and opposite promo about how they’re gonna unify the belts.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for some WWE Superstars visiting the USS Iwo Jima.
Asuka vs. Becky Lynch (WWE Raw Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
Bianca Belair joins us on commentary for this one.
Asuka right in with a knee to the face, charging in, back body drop to the apron, Lynch sends her crashing to the floor with a springboard solebutt but gets tripped up into a running hip attack when she goes for a baseball slide! Out to the floor on the far side, Asuka blocks a pass into the steps but gets slammed into the barricade all the same as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Asuka with a shove and a backslide for two! Schoolboy, two more, roundhouse kick but the Empress is slow to capitalize! Trading forearms, Asuka lights her up with palm strikes and urakens, hip attack, block the German but Asuka hits the Alarm Clock knee and follows it with the German suplex!
Sliding knee... LYNCH KICKS OUT! Becky rolls through into a pin for a nearfall, Manhandle Slam reversed to an arm drag, hip attack sidestepped, Lynch clobbers her with strikes in the ropes and follows with a guillotine leg drop... SO CLOSE! Asuka Lock, countered by bridging out but Asuka is able to break in time!
Pass to the apron, knees from Becky, up top, nobody home on the dive, flying armbar! Asuka has a cross armbar in the middle of the ring but Lynch gets the ropes! Snapping her neck over the top rope, action spills to the floor right in front of Bianca Belair and Becky throws Asuka into her!
Passing stomp, throwing the Empress back inside, kicking at Bianca, referee Chad Patton has to warn her off and Becky grabs Asuka’s parasol! But before she can hit her with it, Asuka spits the green mist and flashes off a kick...
Asuka wins by pinfall with a roundhouse kick to become #1 contender to the WWE Raw Women’s Championship.
Post-match, Lynch writhes in agony while Asuka celebrates.
That’s the show, folks.
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